Donald Trump’s ambassador to Belgium has intervened in a widening academic free speech row, urging Ghent University to reinstate an American scholar suspended after circulating plagiarism claims involving Jason Arday.
Nathan Cofnas, a philosophy of biology specialist, was removed from his post at the Belgian university on Thursday while the institution examined the matter.
Arday, who made headlines in 2023 when he became the University of Cambridge’s youngest black professor at the age of 37, was discovered dead at his London home last Friday.
The 41-year-old had stepped down from his role as professor of sociology of education after facing mounting scrutiny over allegations of academic plagiarism, which Mr Cofnas first set out in a Substack post last month.
Ghent University said it had suspended Mr Cofnas following a “preliminary disciplinary investigation” and stressed that the institution “opposes discrimination, hatred and racism”.
In a joint statement released on Wednesday, rector Petra De Sutter and vice-rector Herwig Reynaert said academic freedom and open debate were central values, but insisted they were “not unlimited” and could be curtailed when necessary to safeguard the rights of others.
According to an email to Ghent University seen by The Times, Mr White pressed officials to “explore a way to rescind this decision and to ensure Nathan’s continued employment”, saying the case had drawn the full attention of the Trump administration.
Mr White described Mr Cofnas as a “well-respected Jewish American professor” and framed his message as a “respectful and diplomatic attempt” to “calm things down”.
Donald Trump’s Ambassador to Belgian Bill White is pictured right with the president
Nathan Cofnas, an academic specialising in the philosophy of biology, was stood down from his position at Ghent University on Thursday
In a lengthy statement on X, the ambassador said the United States Mission to Belgium condemned Ghent University’s ‘retaliation’ against Mr Cofnas following his ‘accurate whistleblower reporting on academic fraud’.
‘The United States government regularly funds and supports research, academic exchanges, and other engagements with overseas universities,’ he wrote.
‘Dishonest, corrupt institutions that engage in, or reward, scapegoating mob behavior are not desirable partners for us.
‘This is particularly true where the purpose and effect of the scapegoating is to punish accurate journalism unearthing academic dishonesty.
‘We are therefore reviewing any relationships we have with Ghent University. Bad-faith idealogues will try to make this a referendum on the content of Cofnas’s scholarship – or polemical distortions of it. That’s wrong.
‘Free speech means that controversial views are protected. And Cofnas’s views were known to Ghent University when he was hired. The ultimate purpose of freedom of speech is to overturn lies, fraud, and false ideologies.
‘This is precisely what Cofnas was doing, and precisely the reason his home institution wants to silence him.’
On Friday, Mr Cofnas wrote that he had become ‘the scapegoat in the Jason Arday affair’ and ‘smeared as a racist’ in a piece for the Wall Street Journal.
Arday, who was hired as the youngest black professor at the University of Cambridge at age 37 ub 2023, was found dead at his London home last Friday
In an email to Ghent University, Mr White urged the institution to ‘explore a way to rescind’ the decision to suspend Mr Cofnas over a Substack post about Arday shared last month
‘I have been flooded with death threats, smeared in countless newspaper articles, and accused of targeting Arday because I think that, as put it, “people like Cofnas simply don’t believe that Black people deserve to be professors at all”,’ he wrote.
‘Speaker after speaker at the vigil held for Arday in Trafalgar Square on Monday denounced me by name, including a prominent politician. Many have claimed that I fabricated the evidence against Arday, although this is easily refuted.’
Mr Arday’s death has been referred to the Coroner for the Inner South District of Greater London. No medical cause of death was given.
The coroner will now carry out an investigation and decide whether there will be an inquest.
Cambridge initially said claims of plagiarism regarding Mr Arday’s thesis and some journal publications had been investigated by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and the journals in question.
LJMU, which awarded Professor Arday his PhD in 2015, concluded that he had not plagiarised work.
But last week, Cambridge announced an independent investigation into his appointment.
Mr Arday resigned but said this decision should not ‘be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me’.
Mr Cofnas declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail.
Ghent University has been contacted for comment.
